Accor revenue falls in first nine months

French hotel group Accor has reported a 5.6% drop in turnover for its first nine months of this year.

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The group, whose brands include Novotel, Sofitel and its economy hotels Formule 1, blamed the decline on a "negative currency effect" and the result of asset disposals.

Hotel sales dropped 3.9% from €3.8b (£2.6b) to €3.6b (£2.5b) in the nine months to 30 September. However, like-for-like revenues dipped by just 1.4%.

The third quarter of this year saw an improved performance for Accor in its upscale and mid-scale hotels where turnover dipped by 0.7%, an improvement on the 4.4% decline in the second quarter.

In a statement, Accor said that this improvement was led by "solid performances" in its UK and US hotels where revenues rose by 3% and 4.3% respectively.

The company said that third-quarter results were in line with expectations and it is on target to achieve full year pre-tax profits of €500m (£343.5m).

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